How much would solar on a commercial building in Brighton generate?

The model gives 1015 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 210 kWp is about 213,000 kWh a year before shading losses. Allow roughly 1,390 m² of roof for it. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

Do we need planning permission for solar on a commercial building in Brighton and Hove?

Usually not a full application. In England, panels on the roof of a non-domestic building are permitted development under Class J of Part 14 of the General Permitted Development Order, with no capacity cap since December 2023. Above 50 kW, which covers most commercial arrays, you must first apply to Brighton and Hove for a determination on prior approval of the design and appearance, in particular glare on neighbouring land. On a flat roof panels may stand no more than 1 metre above the roof and must sit at least 1 metre from its edge, and listed buildings and scheduled monuments are excluded. See our planning permission guide for the detail.

Does solar help a Brighton landlord meet MEES?

It can. A non-domestic EPC is an asset rating, and on-site generation counts in the calculation, so an array usually lifts the score. Let property in England and Wales must be EPC E or better today. The government's interim response of 18 June 2026 proposes EPC B, where cost effective, from 2031 for let buildings over 1,000 m², and drops the EPC C step once planned for 2027. How far solar moves a particular building depends on its fabric and services, which is why the EPC assessor models it before anything is fitted.

Commercial building solar panels in Brighton

An office or store in Brighton buys most of its electricity between eight in the morning and six at night, which is when a roof array generates. What decides a scheme is the roof covering, the parapet height and the plant layout, which is why the survey happens on the roof rather than from a satellite image.

1015 kWh per kWp a year at this latitude, so a 210 kWp array models at about 213,000 kWh. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.

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Drawing Brighton commercial roof

Roof 60 x 32 m, 1,920 m²

Array 210 kWp, east-west

Yield 213,000 kWh/yr

Scale 1:400 / Rev A / Sussex

Illustrative layout for a flat commercial roof of this size, with plant, shade and access kept clear. Your own figures come from the roof survey.

2,600: office properties on the rating list in Brighton and Hove (VOA, March 2025)
3,140: retail properties, 40 of them large-format (VOA, March 2025)
0: named commercial rooftop schemes on the planning record nearby (REPD, Q1 2026)

Aerial view of an out-of-town retail park where some of the large unit roofs carry solar arrays and others are bare — Commercial stock of the kind we survey across Sussex. Generated illustration, not a named site.

Solar for offices and retail across Sussex

How much sun a Brighton roof gets

Modelled irradiation here is 1,293 kWh per square metre a year on a low-tilt array, which works out at 1015 kWh for every kWp installed (EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss). That is around 15 percent above the mean across the towns we cover.

The rating list for Brighton and Hove

The Valuation Office Agency's rating list puts 2,600 office and 3,140 retail properties in Brighton and Hove, covering about 371,000 and 473,000 square metres of floorspace respectively. By office stock the district sits in the top tenth of the 318 districts in England and Wales; by retail stock it sits in the top tenth of the 318 districts in England and Wales.

The big roofs are in the 40 large-format retail units, superstores and retail warehouses in the district, about 142,000 square metres of floorspace under largely single storey roofs.

The same list carries 800 hotel, leisure and assembly properties in the district. Leisure centres and hotels run seven days a week, which puts weekend generation to use that an office would export.

Source: Valuation Office Agency, Non-domestic rating: business floorspace, 31 March 2025 (published December 2025), counts and floorspace by special category code and local authority district, England and Wales.

FIG. 1 What a Brighton roof makes, month by month

Jun produces 6.3 times what Dec does on the same roof. A 210 kWp array here models at about 213,000 kWh across the year, but it arrives unevenly, which is why we size against your summer daytime load and then look at whether storage is worth adding for the shoulder months.

Monthly figures as a table

Month	kWh per kWp	210 kWp array
Jan	27	5,670
Feb	42	8,820
Mar	81	17,010
Apr	119	24,990
May	135	28,350
Jun	145	30,450
Jul	145	30,450
Aug	120	25,200
Sep	91	19,110
Oct	55	11,550
Nov	31	6,510
Dec	23	4,830

Source: EU PVGIS v5.2

FIG. 2 Brighton against the rest of Sussex

Chichester1028
Lewes1028
Eastbourne1017
Brighton1015
Bognor Regis1000
Worthing999
Hastings989
Haywards Heath957
Horsham935

Brighton ranks 4 of 10 towns we cover in Sussex on modelled yield, against a national mean of 886 kWh per kWp. The county runs from 915 to 1028, a spread of 113 kWh per kWp. On a 210 kWp commercial roof that is about 23,730 kWh a year between the strongest and weakest town in the county.

Bars are zero based, so length is proportional to the figure. Where a county is flat, that is the finding: location is not the lever, consumption is. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, modelled per town

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Send us the postcode

Tell us where the building is, roughly how big the roof is, and whether you own it or lease it. We come back with what it can carry, what it would generate against your consumption, and the three ways to pay for it.

Lenzie Consulting Ltd arranges the survey and passes your details to our MCS-certified installation partner so they can quote.

Your name Company Email Phone Site postcode Building type Your interest in the building Roof area Annual electricity spend What are you looking at?

Anything we should know about the roof?

We pass your details to our MCS-certified installation partner so they can quote. Read the privacy notice.

Questions about solar in Brighton

How much would solar on a commercial building in Brighton generate?: The model gives 1015 kWh for every kWp installed here, so 210 kWp is about 213,000 kWh a year before shading losses. Allow roughly 1,390 m² of roof for it. Source: EU PVGIS v5.2, SARAH3, 10 degree pitch, 14 percent system loss.
Do we need planning permission for solar on a commercial building in Brighton and Hove?: Usually not a full application. In England, panels on the roof of a non-domestic building are permitted development under Class J of Part 14 of the General Permitted Development Order, with no capacity cap since December 2023. Above 50 kW, which covers most commercial arrays, you must first apply to Brighton and Hove for a determination on prior approval of the design and appearance, in particular glare on neighbouring land. On a flat roof panels may stand no more than 1 metre above the roof and must sit at least 1 metre from its edge, and listed buildings and scheduled monuments are excluded. See our planning permission guide for the detail.
Does solar help a Brighton landlord meet MEES?: It can. A non-domestic EPC is an asset rating, and on-site generation counts in the calculation, so an array usually lifts the score. Let property in England and Wales must be EPC E or better today. The government's interim response of 18 June 2026 proposes EPC B, where cost effective, from 2031 for let buildings over 1,000 m², and drops the EPC C step once planned for 2027. How far solar moves a particular building depends on its fabric and services, which is why the EPC assessor models it before anything is fitted.

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